2008-09 NBA Thread

[RatedRFan]

wow, im not suprised at the amount of laker haters on here...

this is gonna be a great series, which could easily go either way, but i see it going the lakers way because

1)phil jackson doesnt like to double team anyone(D.howard). which will not allow the rest of the team to hit all of the deadly three's that killed the cav's.

2) the lakers have the experience, they lost badly last year to a hungry boston team, and now are the hungry team. while some could make the call that orlando could just be happy to be in the finals. not true thou...

3) homecourt advantage- yeah, the did beat cleveland, who had the homecourt advantage, but cleveland and los angeles are very different places to play, kobe will get every call to go his way, amounting in a bunch of 3-point plays. what is more likely? la winning in orlando? or orlando winning in la? 4 games in la, 3 in orlando? game 6 and 7 in la!

4)bench depth-is there anyone else on the bench than micheal petrius? yes he outscored the cav's bench all by himself, but dont count on him outscoring farmar, odom/bynum(whoever doesnt get the start)vujacic, walton, brown.

5)coaching-phil jackson vs van gundy? no need to get into this, but, phil will find ways to make adjustments, for dwight howard....maybe sending dj mbenga out to waste his 6 fouls sending howard to the line. however he did a good job of hiitting them in the last series....

6)Kobe-no explation needed, pertius cant gaurd him, no one can. i laugh when people use the expression "kobe-stopper"
haha! such a thing doesnt exist! are we forgetting those "dagger 3's with a hand in his face? literally in his face! i mean touching his forhead/nose!"

yes, howard will still tear up gasol,odom, but he aint plaing against varajou(sp) and illgaskus anymore, reshard lewis is gonna be a tough guard for anyone, but maybe ariza could keep him in control.....

so, those are my reasons LA will edge out orlando in which will be a very tight series that one game could tip the scales in each others favors. If orlando can steal one game in LA (gm 1 or 2) thing could be very tough for kobe and crew with games 3-5 in orlando. we are all winners for being able to watch a great finals match-up.

 

[gd]

1)phil jackson doesnt like to double team anyone(D.howard). which will not allow the rest of the team to hit all of the deadly three's that killed the cav's.

Ok, if he doesn't double team Howard, he'll go for 40 pts every game. Gasol and Bynum can't guard him one on one.

2) the lakers have the experience, they lost badly last year to a hungry boston team, and now are the hungry team. while some could make the call that orlando could just be happy to be in the finals. not true thou...

Orlando is not just happy to be there, they are playing to win. I'm sure they feel disrespected because no one thought they would be there, and they'll be hungry to prove them wrong.

3) homecourt advantage- yeah, the did beat cleveland, who had the homecourt advantage, but cleveland and los angeles are very different places to play, kobe will get every call to go his way, amounting in a bunch of 3-point plays. what is more likely? la winning in orlando? or orlando winning in la? 4 games in la, 3 in orlando? game 6 and 7 in la!

I don't think this is much of an issue. It's not like the Lakers pay the refs that do their home guys, I don't think he'll get that many calls. The Magic proved that they could beat Clevland, who was 39-2 at home in the regular season, so I don't see why the Lakers will be that much tougher.

4)bench depth-is there anyone else on the bench than micheal petrius? yes he outscored the cav's bench all by himself, but dont count on him outscoring farmar, odom/bynum(whoever doesnt get the start)vujacic, walton, brown.

Gortat, Anthony Johnson, Battie. All capable players. It's not like Farmar, Vujacic, or Brown have done that much, and Walton and Odom are just averager bench players. I wouldn't be surprised if Pietrus outscored the Lakers bench by himself.

5)coaching-phil jackson vs van gundy? no need to get into this, but, phil will find ways to make adjustments, for dwight howard....maybe sending dj mbenga out to waste his 6 fouls sending howard to the line. however he did a good job of hiitting them in the last series....

Hack-a-Dwight obviously doesn't work, he shooting over 70 percent, and whyy the hell would DJ Mbenga play in the NBA Finals? I think that Van Gundy is a very good coach, and will be able to hold his own against Jackson.

6)Kobe-no explation needed, pertius cant gaurd him, no one can. i laugh when people use the expression "kobe-stopper"
haha! such a thing doesnt exist! are we forgetting those "dagger 3's with a hand in his face? literally in his face! i mean touching his forhead/nose!"

Pietrus went up against Lebron last serious, and I think that he is better than Kobe. Don't get me wrong, Kobe's great, but Pietrus just has to make him work and get him frustrated.
yes, howard will still tear up gasol,odom, but he aint plaing against varajou(sp) and illgaskus anymore, reshard lewis is gonna be a tough guard for anyone, but maybe ariza could keep him in control.....

so, those are my reasons LA will edge out orlando in which will be a very tight series that one game could tip the scales in each others favors. If orlando can steal one game in LA (gm 1 or 2) thing could be very tough for kobe and crew with games 3-5 in orlando. we are all winners for being able to watch a great finals match-up.

I'm going Magic in 7, but it could go either way. I'm really looking forward to it.

 

[Big Sexy]

Ok, if he doesn't double team Howard, he'll go for 40 pts every game. Gasol and Bynum can't guard him one on one.

The Lakers would love for Howard to score 40. That means the other guys aren't draining threes and it becomes more of a one man show. How do you think the Magic beat Cleveland? It's because Lebron was scoring 40 a game and everyone else wasn't playing well.

The Magic proved that they could beat Clevland, who was 39-2 at home in the regular season, so I don't see why the Lakers will be that much tougher.

The Lakers will be tougher because they are a better team then Cleveland.

Gortat, Anthony Johnson, Battie. All capable players. It's not like Farmar, Vujacic, or Brown have done that much, and Walton and Odom are just averager bench players. I wouldn't be surprised if Pietrus outscored the Lakers bench by himself.

Did you just call Lamar Odom average? For his regular season career he has averaged 15 points 9 rebounds and 4 assists. For his playoff career he has averaged 16 points 10 boards and 3 assists. Those are far from average numbers.

Hack-a-Dwight obviously doesn't work, he shooting over 70 percent, and whyy the hell would DJ Mbenga play in the NBA Finals?

I'll take 70 percent from the line over 100 percent from dunks. Mbenga might play because he is another big guy they could throw at Dwight and waste some fouls.

Pietrus went up against Lebron last serious, and I think that he is better than Kobe. Don't get me wrong, Kobe's great, but Pietrus just has to make him work and get him frustrated.

Lebron averaged 38 points per game last series so that isn't too good for your argument. Pietrus is a solid defender and he will slow Kobe a little but Kobe will still put up great numbers because he is the second best player in the NBA.

 

[gd]

The Lakers would love for Howard to score 40. That means the other guys aren't draining threes and it becomes more of a one man show. How do you think the Magic beat Cleveland? It's because Lebron was scoring 40 a game and everyone else wasn't playing well.

Dwight scored 40 last game, and the other guys were hitting threes. Eventually the Lakers will have to double down, and the shooters will make them pay.

The Lakers will be tougher because they are a better team then Cleveland.

I disagree, I think the Cavs are better than the Lakers. I don't neccesarily think the Magic are better than either team, they just provide a really tough matchup.

Did you just call Lamar Odom average? For his regular season career he has averaged 15 points 9 rebounds and 4 assists. For his playoff career he has averaged 16 points 10 boards and 3 assists. Those are far from average numbers.

Yes, he's an average player. I'm sure that he'll have 2 really good games in the series of 20 pts and 10 reb, but he could easily average 6 pts and 3 reb in the other 5 games. He's just not a consistant player.

I'll take 70 percent from the line over 100 percent from dunks. Mbenga might play because he is another big guy they could throw at Dwight and waste some fouls.

If Mbenga plays, Dwight will dunk it and get fouled.

Lebron averaged 38 points per game last series so that isn't too good for your argument. Pietrus is a solid defender and he will slow Kobe a little but Kobe will still put up great numbers because he is the second best player in the NBA.

Yes, but he ran out of steam at the end of the series. I'm not aruguing thta Kobe isn't great. I just think that the Magic will be able to wear him down with Pietrus, Hedo, Lewis, and maybe even Lee. By the end of the series, he'll be gassed.

 

[Big Sexy]

Dwight scored 40 last game, and the other guys were hitting threes. Eventually the Lakers will have to double down, and the shooters will make them pay.

They were still hitting threes but the team didn't play as well as they did when there offense was more evenly distributed. Turkoglu was 3-12 in the game and Alston was 5-16. Not only that but Bynum is a much better defender then anyone Cleveland had. Ilgauskas was too slow, Wallace was too old, and Varejao was too small. Bynum has a great combination of size and athleticism.

I disagree, I think the Cavs are better than the Lakers.

You are in the minority with that one. With the exception of Lebron the Cavs are a bunch of role players. The Lakers have a superstar in Kobe, a legit all star in Gasol, and a border line all star in Odom.

Yes, he's an average player. I'm sure that he'll have 2 really good games in the series of 20 pts and 10 reb, but he could easily average 6 pts and 3 reb in the other 5 games. He's just not a consistant player.

He's not consistent this year because he is being a team player and coming off the bench. Odom could start and put up 15 points and 8 boards for every team in this league. Luke Walton is average, Lamar Odom is a very good player.

If Mbenga plays, Dwight will dunk it and get fouled.

Mbenga will only be out there because he is a big body and will give Dwight a different look. As soon as he makes a mistake he'll be right back on the bench.

Yes, but he ran out of steam at the end of the series. I'm not aruguing thta Kobe isn't great. I just think that the Magic will be able to wear him down with Pietrus, Hedo, Lewis, and maybe even Lee. By the end of the series, he'll be gassed.

Lebron wore down because his team sucks and he had to do everything him self. Kobe actually has a good supporting cast.

 

[gd]

They were still hitting threes but the team didn't play as well as they did when there offense was more evenly distributed. Turkoglu was 3-12 in the game and Alston was 5-16. Not only that but Bynum is a much better defender then anyone Cleveland had. Ilgauskas was too slow, Wallace was too old, and Varejao was too small. Bynum has a great combination of size and athleticism.

I think that Bynum is too inexperienced and doesn't have enough poise to guard Dwight, I could be wrong though. He could really make a name for himself here.

You are in the minority with that one. With the exception of Lebron the Cavs are a bunch of role players. The Lakers have a superstar in Kobe, a legit all star in Gasol, and a border line all star in Odom.

I know I am, but watching them during the season, I thought that the Cavs were the best team, not neccesarily the most talented though.

He's not consistent this year because he is being a team player and coming off the bench. Odom could start and put up 15 points and 8 boards for every team in this league. Luke Walton is average, Lamar Odom is a very good player.

I still think that Pietrus and Johnson > Odom and Walton.

Mbenga will only be out there because he is a big body and will give Dwight a different look. As soon as he makes a mistake he'll be right back on the bench.

Which will be in about 10 seconds.

Lebron wore down because his team sucks and he had to do everything him self. Kobe actually has a good supporting cast.

Yes, but I think that he's going to try and do everything on his own and prove he can win the Championship without Shaq. If he does that, LA has no chance.